Ghost and monkey selfies can't be copyrighted, says US gov't

^_BOO!

 

In an unprecedented decision, the US Copyright Office has ruled that a selfie taken by a monkey can't get a copyright—and neither can any photos taken by spirits, ghosts, or gods.

 

In its updated rules, the Office said content produced by an animal cannot be registered—and neither can those produced by nature or plants.

 

"The Office will not register works produced by nature, animals, or plants. Likewise, the Office cannot register a work purportedly created by divine or supernatural beings, although the Office may register a work where the application or the deposit copy(ies) state that the work was inspired by a divine spirit," it said.

 

Among the examples it cited were a a 2011 photo of a grinning female macaque in Indonesia that photographer David Slater claimed happened to pick up his camera and managed to hit the shutter button.

 

Tech site Mashable noted this would be a victory of sorts for Wikimedia, which had earlier refused requests by Slater to take down the macaque's selfie.  

 

"A photographer left his camera unattended in a national park in North Sulawesi, Indonesia. A female crested black macaque monkey got ahold of the camera and took a series of pictures, including some self-portraits. The pictures were featured in an online newspaper article and eventually posted to Commons. We received a takedown request from the photographer, claiming that he owned the copyright to the photographs," Wikimedia said in its transparency report.

 

"We didn't agree, so we denied the request," it added.

 

It merely credited Slater with rotating and cropping the photo, which has since made headlines worldwide.

 

But Slater claims the setup now threatens his income, as he insisted he owned the copyright of the image, UK's The Telegraph reported.

 

The report quoted Slater as saying the photography trip was expensive and that he has not made much money from the image.

 

“That trip cost me about £2,000 for that monkey shot. Not to mention the £5,000 of equipment I carried, the insurance, the computer stuff I used to process the images. Photography is an expensive profession that’s being encroached upon. They’re taking our livelihoods away,” he said.

 

He added that for every 10,000 images he takes, "one makes money that keeps me going. And that was one of those images. It was like a year of work, really.” — Joel Locsin/TJD, GMA News